垃圾桶 (lā jī tǒng) — trash can, garbage bin

Definition

noun
trash cangarbage bin
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 垃圾桶
    Qǐng bǎ lā jī rēng jìn lā jī tǒng.
    Please throw the trash into the trash can.
  • 垃圾桶
    Zhè ge lā jī tǒng yǐ jīng mǎn le, xū yào qīng lǐ.
    This trash can is already full and needs to be cleaned.
  • 垃圾桶
    Xiǎo qū lǐ měi gé shí mǐ jiù yǒu yí gè lā jī tǒng.
    In the neighborhood, there's a trash can every ten meters.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

垃圾trash

垃 and 圾 together mean trash, and 桶 is a bin.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 垃 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
yǒngtǒng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 木 shows wood, and the right part 甬 gives the sound.

Open 桶 →

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